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Enduk
Enduk resemble humanoid bulls with wingspans of around 20ft. Physical Appearance Standing six to seven feet tall, enduks are smaller and lighter than regular minotaurs though still very muscular. The head of an enduk resembles that of a bull - with horns, a square muzzle, large, heavily-lidded eyes, and a strong mouth filled with large teeth. Long, coarse hair tufts at the throat and shoulders, running in a mane the back. The head of an enduk is most often spotted and splotched with white and black, though features such as the eyes and muzzle are highlighted in brown. Their fur is usually light brown, ranging to black but a very few have creamy-white fur. Enduk wings are feathered black, white, or a shade of gray or blue-gray. Hair (and beard, for males) is coifed into curled rows. Both males and females have horns; these stick out from the sides of their heads (rather than curling close) and are usually ivory-white, though some are yellow, light brown, or gray. White-furred enduks have pearly horns. Horns are 1d6+12 inches long. They typically have brown eyes, though some have black irises. An enduk's foot has only two large toes, both with hooflike coverings. Their hands look human but have thick, black nails. Enduks are carnivores and have sharp teeth. The typical enduk is a religious individual; most are Lawful. They are not very trusting and seldom make friends among the wingless. Enduks are honorable and go to great lengths to keep any promises they make. Their bodies are covered with short fur ranging from black to light brown. Enduks also possess huge, powerful wings. Atypical enduk wingspan measures from eight to ten feet, and when folded, the wings reach from the ground to one foot over the enduk's head. Feather color varies from white to black, including various shades of gray. The underside of an enduk's wings usually bears a design that they show off by spreading their wings when on the ground. These marks tend to be genetic and can convey information about an enduk's family. The enduks put family ahead of other concerns. Enduks take a mate for life, rarely taking a second even if the first dies. A couple will average one child every few years - four to six young over their lifetime together. Normally one enduk represents the entire extended family for purposes of organized government, whether it is a local organization or a temporary clan-council responsible for matters concerning all enduks. (The last clan-council to be held was over the matter of returning to Nimmur.) This leader is generally an enduk who has lost a mate, or never took one, and has embraced a more martial and possibly religious lifestyle. Sometimes, a mated pair will devote their lives to such pursuits, both becoming leaders for the family. Personality Enduk are typically stoic creatures unless enraged. They get along well with all other races except the manscorpions, who have possibly earned the eternal animosity of the enduks. Their philosophy demands an ascetic life of peasantry, which ties in with the enduk religion - worship of their patron Immortal, Idu (Ixion), and reverence of their greatest leader, Gildesh. The conflict with the manscorpions has forced the enduks into a higher level of craftsmanship and commerce. The enduks are natural metalsmiths, making some of the best tools and weapons available. Mostly they work with regular steel, but with their return to the Savage Coast, they have begun crafting red steel weapons. Enduks do not make items specifically for trade with other races yet, so most weapons and tools are created for enduk physique. Still, these items are gaining a following in the surrounding lands as trade items. Language The enduk have their own language, Nimmush (Homespeak). This guttural, heavy dialect requires a range that few outside their own race can command. Most enduks also know common and Aeryla, the language of the ee'aar. Though most rarely bother to learn any further languages, some enduks maintain their knowledge of the manscorpion's language (Nimmurian), in case it should prove useful in winning back their homeland. Lifestyle The land of the enduks is closed to most other folk. Once they ruled Nimmur and welcomed all peoples. They opened their kingdom to manscorpions, and later were betrayed by those creatures. Enduks in general want to recapture Nimmur and most enduks who adventure on the Savage Coast try to organize missions to Nimmur to spy on and harass the manscorpions. Because of their experience in Nimmur, enduks are distrustful of most strangers. The ee'aar are exceptions and are viewed as friends. Enduks hate manscorpions. With most other races, enduks are hesitant and tend toward distrust, but they are generally willing to give each person a chance. Once befriended, they tend to trust more easily; once betrayed, they never forget. Enduks walk about as much as they fly. Though they often fly to battle and use flight for strategic advantage, they prefer fighting on the ground. They live in stone structures close to the ground. Their homes are simple and practical but tend to be large, with huge doorways, because of the enduks' size and wingspan. Enduk buildings have doors, but these are left open unless strangers are present or in the case of some threat. Most enduk structures also have trapdoors on the roofs. Enduk priests choose lifemates for their people. An initial "marriage" takes place when the enduks are about 12 years old, though the pair can put off cohabitation for as much as two decades, to give them time to get to know one another and to seek adventure if they so desire. Once the final ceremony takes place, the enduk couple bonds for life. Any children are cherished and raised in a loving, deeply religious household. Equipment Enduks are usually equipped with a footman's mace or club, a net, and/or a flight lance. They have leather armor or bronze plate mail and carry net bags for personal effects, hanging them from their belts to leave their hands free. History Long ago the enduks were created when a herald of Idu rendered a great service to his patron. As a reward for Gildesh, his servant, Idu formed a race with some of Gildesh's features. Gildesh was a shedu, a winged bull with a human head, and he ruled over Idu's newly created followers, who for practical reasons had been given winged humanoid bodies and the heads of bulls. These were creatures of exalted goodness who lived to serve Gildesh, which means the defender in their language, and further the ideals of Idu_the sun. Centuries later, Gildesh had enough followers to found a kingdom in the western part of the Orc's Head Peninsula. It was called Nimmur, which means the homeland. Over the centuries, envoys of other Immortals quietly influenced some of Gildesh's followers, introducing greed and violence to the Nimmurians. One of those, a warrior known as Minoides, betrayed Gildesh over a holy treasure and killed him. As he died, Gildesh cursed his murderer and his treacherous lackeys, who fled Nimmur and lost their wings. They became the evil minotaurs of the world. Gildesh was not truly dead, just banished to another plane by the death of his mortal body. Idu suggested that he give his followers time to learn and grow on their own and Gildesh agreed to return only every third century. During his absence, the manscorpions arrived and were welcomed by the peaceful Nimmurians. They were beset by the orcs of the Dark Jungle. The manscorpions aided them during the struggle, only to turn against their allies once that fighting was done. When the manscorpions overran their cities, the enduks were forced to flee and with the help of the ee'aar, they relocated to a vast plateau hidden in the mountains of the Arm of the Immortals. The Eshu plateau was infested with monsters but the enduks and ee'aar working together eradicated them. The enduk were ecstatic about their new, secluded land where they could honor their Immortal patron, Idu, and their spiritual leader, Gildesh. The kingdom was named for the priest-king Eshu, who ruled ancient Nimmur at the time of their flight to the Arm of the Immortals. Upon pacifying the northern end of the plateau, he had the great fortress of Gildesh built to hold its entrance. He died several years later at the Battle of Urduk, when several hordes of orcs attempted to find a way onto the plateau. Idu's herald Gildesh returned a decade ago and is now ruling for another mortal lifetime. Today, the enduks are a peaceful race of farmers and soldiers who live simply. They grow crops in the rich soil, hunt boar and deer and fish in their many rivers. As before, they build villages, cities, temples, and fortresses, though not such grand ones as they once constructed in ancient Nimmur. It is a particular goal of the enduks to try to retake Nimmur. To that end they often send adventurers to the Savage Coast to harass the manscorpions and plan raids. In the last decade, heavy attacks by the orcs of the Dark Jungle, which occupied much of Nimmur's army, created an opening that allowed a combined force of enduks, ee'aar, and a few repentant manscorpions to seize the city of Um-Shedu. Thus far, they have held the city and hope to use it as a staging base from which to retake the whole country. The Kingdom of Eshu Capital: Sardon (Pop. 11,200 enduks and a handful of visitors from elsewhere) Royal Army: 12 Storms Ruler: Priest-King Gildesh II, Herald of Idu Patron: Idu Flora and Fauna The land of Eshu occupies a vast plateau similar to Aeryl's Oethrun. It is a heart-shaped grassland that slopes down toward a northern bottleneck, the Gildesh pass. Eshunite rivers drain toward the pass, eventually forming a very high waterfall at the eastern edge of the Great Shield of the Immortals. High mountains surround the kingdom, preventing neighboring populations from reaching Eshu. Like Aeryl, the region is rich in farmland and hunting areas. Although it is very well watered, thus having richer soil, Eshu supports almost exactly the same flora and fauna as Aeryl. The City of Sardon Though large, the city of Sardon is remarkably uninteresting. Architecture is spare and practical, and the streets are straight and wide. The only buildings of real interest are the palace and temple complex. These are built along patterns established in Nimmur, the large palace intended to serve both as a court and as a counting and storage facility and the temple resting atop a three-tiered ziggurat. The Enduk Pantheon Idu: The enduks are essentially followers of Idu, which is what they were created to be. Idu represents fire and the sun as well as a balance of passion and wisdom, power, and scholarship. Enduks can be used as player characters. They can either be clerics or fighters, and must be Lawful. A 20% penalty must be applied to their experience tables. They get a +2 to their initial Strength scores (up to 18 maximum), and a -2 to their Dexterity. A minimum Strength and Constitution of 14 are required, regardless of the chosen class. These characters should never be started at less than 4th level of experience in any class. In other words, such a character could be brought into an already existing party of 4th-level PCs. It couldnot be crfor use with a party of standard 1st-level characters. Enduks can fight with weapons of 120 cn. encumbrance or less when flying. They do not use bows under any circumstances. Crossbows can be used in flight, but must be reloaded on the ground. Enduks prefer fighting on foot (they have a -2 penalty on attack rolls when flying). They can use any other weapon allowed by their chosclass whnot flying. They also can use their horns to gore an opponent for 1d4 + 1 points of damage. They may wear armor specially made for their winged-bodies, but do not use shields. Their armor generally costs and weighs twice the normal amounts. They have a natural armor class of 6. Addition of body armor of AC6 or worse does not improve the enduk’s natural AC. For armor of AC5 or better, use the AC rating of the armor worn. Their wings have the same armor class, etc., as the ee’aar above. Damage to flying creatures applies normally, as well as recovery from fire damage (as explained earlier for the ee’aar). Enduks have a MF of 2© when flying and an air speed of 60 yards per round (level flight), or approximately 10 yards climbing and double-speed diving. They can carry up to 2,000 cn. plus 100 cn. per point of Strength and still fly without penalty. Above that number, their speed and maneuverability drop to 30 and 1©. The maximum weight a enduk can carry and maintain flight capability is 2,000 cn. plus 200 cn. per point of Strength. The enduks are much heavier than their ee’aar counterparts. They must make a Constitution check for every turn of continuous flight. Their Constitution checks are subject to the same bonuses and penalties as for the ee’aar, except for the penalty on weight ( -1 for every 1,000 cn. carried). Enduks cannot fly above 10,000 ft., but they could glide from that altitude if needed. Enduks do not suffer from claustrophobia as ee’aar do. Enduks have excellent eyesight, and can note details from a distance of half a mile. Male enduks are 66 + 4d6 inches high and weigh 2,200 + 2d20x10 cn (females are 2 inches shorter and 200 cn. lighter. They begin play at the age of 20 + 2d8 years and can reach the age of 200 + 1d100. Category:Monstrous humanoids